An in-wheel motor as a drive unit for a vehicle has conventionally been known. Such an in-wheel motor is described for example in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-337554 or the like. In the above description, the in-wheel motor is connected to a torsion beam via a bracket.
However, the in-wheel motor as described above has a problem as described below.
At least a portion of the in-wheel motor is provided within a wheel. To reduce air resistance, a vehicle may be designed to have less airflow within a wheel even when the vehicle is moving. As a result, the in-wheel motor does not receive sufficient wind, and thus cooling efficiency of the motor is reduced.